2026 Northern Territory Writers Festival
Thursday, May 28 – Sunday, May 31, 2026
The NT Writers Festival (NTWF) returns to Garramilla/Darwin 28 – 31 May 2026 with the theme NAVIGATING.
NTWF is a four-day festival that brings the community together to share story, language and culture.
Held annually in iconic outdoor locations, the festival alternates between Garramilla / Darwin and Mparntwe / Alice Springs. With a thousand miles between locations, the festival shifts from the tropics to the desert, from coastal to inland, from Larrakia to Arrernte Country, creating a character which reflects the diversity – environmental, cultural and social – of the Northern Territory itself. Catcht these Magabala creator sessions below:
WORKSHOP:
Writing Nonfiction Poetry to Overcome Despair
Thursday 28 May
2pm - 4pm
$60 | $50 | First Nations free
How to transform the hard stuff of life and spin it into gold? Poet, editor and creative writing teacher Jeanine Leane shares lessons learned in the writing of her recent PEN
Melbourne pamphlet, Keep Words Free. In this workshop you’ll learn how to write in response to a world on fire, and connect to a sense of empathy, agency and power.
Darwin Community Arts.
PANEL: The Politics of Control
Who is silenced, and who can speak?
Friday 29 May
3.45pm - 5pm
$22 | $18 | First Nations $10
What are the mechanisms that decide which stories are told? In the face of the cancellations of events and awards, the arts landscape has been deeply altered. So how do writers respond when their work is challenged or suppressed, and what is the
role of arts organisations to defend creative freedom? Jeanine Leane, Micaela Sahhar and Joelistics reflect on the real impacts of censorship and self-censorship, and explore the literary courage it takes to resist the forces that police words.
PANEL: Liberating Words First Peoples Australian literature demands its own direction
Saturday 30 May
9am - 10am
$22 | $18 | First Nations Free
Sit down and listen as three eminent storytellers from different backgrounds talk about reclaiming history, disrupting english, inventing new forms, and using writing as a tool of resistance and truthtelling. With Ali Cobby Eckermann, Jeanine Leane, and Melanie Munungurr in conversation. MAGNT Marquee
WORKSHOP: Water A First Peoples-only poetry workshop with award-winning Yankunytjatjara poet Ali Cobby Eckermann.
Friday 29 May
9.30am - 12pm
First Peoples Free - please book
This workshop is an invitation to craft poems for submission to a First Peoples NT Poetry Anthology (published in 2027). Ali will share guidance for original frameworks to write poetic responses to artwork at MAGNT. All materials will be provided.
PANEL: Liberating Words First Peoples Australian literature demands its own direction
Saturday 30 May
9am - 10am
$22 | $18 | First Nations Free
Sit down and listen as three eminent storytellers from different backgrounds talk about reclaiming history, disrupting english, inventing new forms, and using writing as a tool of resistance and truthtelling. With Ali Cobby Eckermann, Jeanine Leane, and Melanie Munungurr in conversation. MAGNT Marquee
IN CONVERSATION:
Jane Harrison
Friday 29 May 11.15am - 12.15pm
$22 | $18 | First Nations $10
Jane Harrison, a descendant of the Muruwari people, is one of Australia’s most respected
Indigenous playwrights and novelists, whose work has shaped national conversations about First Nations stories. Her play, The Visitors, toured internationally and received multiple awards, and was adapted into an award-winning novel. She also founded the incredible Blak & Bright First Nations Literary Festival. This talk will offer insight into her groundbreaking work The Visitors and her lifetime’s commitment to amplifying First Nations voices in Australian literature. Jane will appear via livestream.
STORYTIME AT KIM’S CUBBY
Saturday May 30, 9-11am FREE EVENT
Welcome to Storytime at Kim’s Cubby! A wonderful lineup of storytellers bring their picture books to life. With craft stations, activities and more!
Featuring Maree Yoelu, Darren McCallum, and Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs and hosted by Fairy Jill.
For ages 3-10.